Best 10 Days in East Coast USA — Winter

Spend a morning with 5,000 years of art at the Met on Fifth Avenue

Pay respects at the twin reflecting pools and the underground museum at Ground Zero

Ride to the 86th-floor open-air deck for 360-degree views of New York

See a T. rex, a 94-foot blue whale, and the Rose Center for Earth and Space

Take in the neon spectacle of Times Square then catch a Broadway performance

Sample dim sum in Chinatown then cross Canal Street for espresso and cannoli

Catch live jazz at the Village Vanguard or Blue Note in the neighborhood that shaped the music

See the Wright Flyer, Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis, and the Apollo 11 command module

See Leonardo da Vinci, Vermeer, and Rothko in two connected buildings on the Mall

Move through three floors of permanent exhibits documenting the Holocaust and its victims

Walk the 2-mile stretch from the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial past Washington's greatest monuments

Visit the JFK eternal flame and watch the Changing of the Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Walk Georgetown's Federal-style streets, the C&O Canal towpath, and the Potomac waterfront

Spend a morning with one of the largest Monet collections outside Paris

Walk the red-brick path connecting 16 American Revolution sites across Boston

Tour America's oldest university campus and vibrant Harvard Square